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About TechWhirl

TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.

For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.

Rules Reminder

A belated Happy New Year comes with a reminder of the rules on how the
discussion list works. The list is private, but the archives are public,
and are used daily by thousands of people. Use common sense and common
courtesy when posting. If a conversation goes off-topic, drop it or take it
off-line.

- If it is about technical communication and of general interest, post
it.
- If it is about technical communication and original and humorous, post
it.
- If it is a question about a subject or topic in the online magazine,
post it (and feel free to add a comment to the article in the
magazine<http://techwhirl.com/>
!)

What not to post

- *Anything you don't want a search engine to find.* The archives are
our most popular feature.
- If it doesn't clearly and directly relate to technical communication,
don't post it.
- If it relates to *language use* but not technical communication, it
probably isn't appropriate. Don't post it.
- If it relates to *computer use* but not technical communication, it
probably isn't appropriate. Don't post it.
- If it continues an irrelevant thread in any way (rebuttal, rebuke,
rerun, revision, remark), don't post it.
- If it is a personal message to a single subscriber, don't post it.
Even if mail to that person bounces.
- If it is a "me too" message that does not add new information or
perspective to a discussion, don't post it
- If you aren't sure, don't post it.
- If it is a test message, do not post it. Ever. Contact the
listowner<http://techwhirl.com/contact-us/> if
you have problems posting or with your subscription, or send a test message
to techwr-l-test -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com to check your mail settings.
- If it's a job ad or other ad, don't post it--post it to our jobs site,
contact us <http://jobs.techwhirl.com/> or read about our advertising
opportunities <http://techwhirl.com/advertise/>. TECHWR-L is a free
service for all technical writers and we're supported with advertising but
we're not unreasonable so please reach out to us and we'll find a way to
promote it to our group.
- If it is something cute, interesting, or funny that you found on the
Internet (e.g. Dr. Seuss on Tech Writing, origin of spam), don't post it.
Rest assured, most readers have seen it already. If it's really funny,
first search the archives <http://www.techwr-l.com/archives/> and see if
it's there. If not, contact us <http://techwhirl.com/contact-us/> and
we'll put it into Tech Writer This Week (which then gets publicised to the
list).
- When in doubt, contact us <http://techwhirl.com/contact-us/>.

ExpectationsAs a contributors to the email discussion group, you should:

- Check your facts on anything you post. Do not under any circumstances
post virus warnings or anything else designed to be "forwarded to everyone
you know" to this list.
- Summarize responses sent directly to you and post the entire summary
back to the list. A summary should include attributions so others can pick
up conversations offline if necessary with original posters. When you send
a summary back to the list, use the word "SUMMARY" as the first word of
the "Subject" line.
- Edit all unnecessary quoted messages and TECHWR-L footers out of your
postings, and make sure that you send only plain text messages and no
attachments to the list.
- Please make sure your E-mail address is included in the body of the
message you post to the list.
- You understand that all posts are in the public domain.

You should NOT:

- Directly attack anyone for anything on the list. Take issue with
ideas, not personalities.
- Point out grammatical, spelling, or usage errors. This forum is not
the place to exercise editorial frustration.
- Do not post ads in any form.
- Say anything that you wouldn't want others to find with a search
engine because your emails are archived are indexed and searchable by major
search engines.